County to offer drug services to students
Schools, Health Department to deliver substance abuse treatment to high schoolers
Anne Arundel schools have partnered with the county Health Department to deliver substance abuse treatment to high schoolers.
The STAR — Screening Teens to Access Recovery — Program will allow high school students to connect with licensed therapists from the Department of Health via tele-sessions. The program represents the latest content may effort to combat drug addiction among young people.
The initiative also comes at a time when Anne Arundel County Public Schools is reassessing its approach to mental health. The school system has requested more than $3.4 million in its fiscal 2020 budget to bolster mental health services.
The STAR Program will allow students who seek help in school health rooms to be screened via tele-session by a therapist. Based on the results, the therapist and the student can work together to determine next steps and explore treatment options.
School nurses will acclimate students with the new service, schools Superintendent George Arlotto said in a statement.
“I believe the ability of students to access assistance from a friendly face in the school health room will encourage more students to seek help when they need it,” Arlotto said.
School officials are keeping track of students who might be abusing drugs. Last year, employees in school health rooms observed 327 students who were suspected to be under the influence of some substance.
It is unclear what kind of drugs the students who were tracked by the school system were using. But officials say some kids use marijuana.
“A lot of kids are using marijuana to self-medicate to feel better,” said Jen Corbin, director of the Anne Arundel County Crisis Response System. “We want to make sure that we’re addressing their mental health symptoms so they don’t have to go down that path.”
Participants in the county’s 2019 Community Health Needs Assessment noted that students as young as 11 years old are using cannabis. National data suggests young people are turning to prescription drugs, like opioids, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Experts in Anne Arundel County have also cited drug and alcohol use as contributing factors to suicidal ideations and attempts, according to the 2018 Trends in Youth Suicide report.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 15 and 24 in Anne Arundel County. Pasadena, Glen Burnie, Severna Park and Edgewater lead the county, with a combined 506 suicide attempts among people aged 10 to 24 years old, between 2012 and 2016.
While the county does not maintain extensive data about the co-occurrence of mental health issues and drug abuse in young people, officials have noticed increases among adults, Corbin said.
Anne Arundel County police in 2017 reported almost 1,100 opioid-related overdoses — a 171 percent increase since 2014 — according to the health needs assessment. Fifteen percent of those overdoses were experienced by young people between the ages of 18 and 24, according to the Trends in Youth Suicide report.
The introduction of the STAR Program comes at a time when the county is grappling with the opioid crisis. Health officials used the county’s Safe Stations Program as a template for the STAR program.
“Whereas any county resident seeking substance treatment can walk into any fire station or police station 24/7, any high school student can arrange to go to the school health room at any time during the school day for help,” said Billie Penley, acting county health officer.
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